The use of a PTO in association with an engine (e.g., an engine powering a vehicle, such as a truck, or a stationary engine, such as an engine powering a generator) is generally known. Such PTOs often include an input gear, an output gear connected to an output shaft, and a clutch mechanism for selectively engaging and disengaging the input gear and the output gear so as to selectively rotate the output shaft of the PTO to perform useful work, such as to power auxiliary equipment. Once connected to the engine, such as by connecting the PTO to a gear within the engine's transmission, the input gear of the PTO can draw mechanical power from the engine and selectively transfer this power to an auxiliary device mounted to the PTO.
PTO powered auxiliary equipment (e.g., a hydraulic pump or an electrical generator) or PTO components, such as a PTO cartridge valve (e.g., a electrohydraulic cartridge valve, and which may be commonly referred to as a solenoid or a solenoid valve) or valve body (which may control engagement/disengagement of a PTO clutch or other PTO functions, to a PTO) (auxiliary equipment and PTO components are collectively referred to as auxiliary equipment) are typically mounted to a PTO with bolts, creating a secure and rigid attachment between the auxiliary equipment and the PTO. This type of attachment is typically sufficiently secure to carry the torsional load transmitted to auxiliary equipment through the connection between the PTO and the auxiliary equipment, but these attachments do not provide a wide variety of orientations for attaching the auxiliary equipment to a PTO. Since different types and forms of auxiliary equipment can be mounted to a PTO, and since the PTO itself can be mounted to different transmissions with different configurations, difficulties can arise when parts of the engine, transmission, other auxiliary equipment, or components of the vehicle (such as the chassis or the frame) interfere with the positioning and location of the auxiliary equipment, making installation of the auxiliary equipment difficult or impossible. These issues can make designing a single PTO for installation on more than one type of transmission, engine, or vehicle difficult, if not impossible in some cases.
The arrangement of bolts (and holes to receive the bolts) for mounting auxiliary equipment to a PTO can be arranged in a pattern that permits attachment of the auxiliary equipment to the PTO in more than one rotational orientation; however, the limited number of orientations offered by these limited attachment arrangements frequently result in there being no acceptable orientation for the auxiliary equipment, i.e., there is interference between the auxiliary equipment and other components in each of the limited number of possible orientations. For example, three bolt mounting systems exist that allow installation of a component, such as a cartridge valve, which is typically enclosed in a valve body, in one of three orientations. To adjust the cartridge valve after being attached to the PTO, a user must remove all of the bolts holding the cartridge valve (typically held within a valve body with the bolts directly holding the valve body to the PTO) to the PTO, rotate the cartridge valve to the newly desired orientation, and reinsert and tighten the bolts to hold the cartridge valve in its new orientation. In certain combinations of engines, transmissions and vehicles to which the PTO is being connected, none of the three orientations may be suitable.
Although attempts have been made to increase the number of orientations by increasing the number of holes for mounting the auxiliary equipment to the PTO, the maximum number of orientations is fairly low because the increased number of bolt holes results in decreased structural integrity in the PTO and extended installation and the increased removal times required to install or remove the increased number of bolts (fasteners). For at least these reasons, difficulties still exist when attaching auxiliary equipment to PTOs using known methods and techniques.
It was realized by the inventor of the present disclosure that improvements in apparatuses and methods for mounting auxiliary equipment to PTOs are needed. Certain preferred features of the present disclosure address these and provide other important advantages.